Games

[icycalm]

Coming October 30 courtesy of Sega and the resurrected Tecnosoft:

http://thunderforce.sega.jp/
http://www.tecnosoft.com/






http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000/092/92406/

At first I thought it looked ass, but then I saw the trailer and changed my mind. I mean it still looks ass, but it sure is fast and smooth in motion, loads of shit is happening, etc. Feels really old-school too. I've only really played the second and third games, so I've no idea what happened to the series afterwards. I hear IV is the best shooter on the Mega Drive (Rob from Shmups thinks so...), so I might try that in the meantime.

Trailer 1 (12 MB)

I'll say it's an interesting choice of console, though. I guess such low-budget graphics would have seemed even MORE out of place on anything more powerful.

[Recap]

Tecno Soft is not "resurrected", I'm afraid. Just "profanated".

[icycalm]

So the first three levels, at any rate, are amalgams of stages and bosses from parts III, IV and V.

I can't tell what the slot one weapon resembles, but the others are certainly a really wide Rear Shot, Wave from TF3, Free Range from TF5 and Hunter (although the bullets are flame orange now, instead of blue).

Also, the review says that there are 6 stages... making this the shortest TF yet.

They keep mentioning a new system in the review... I do see a strange power meter in the lower-left of the screen.

EDIT... slot one forward shot looks like a stream-lined Sever... very slim blue lasers.

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... 346#378346

[icycalm]

Tecno Soft is not "resurrected", I'm afraid. Just "profanated".

Yeah, I had a feeling about this but haven't had the time to look into it. Any idea of the history of whoever's making it? Perhaps these guys know what's up?

Who's making it:

- The director of Thunderforce VI is Tetsu Okano (Tez Okano)
- He is the director and writer of SGGG, Astro Boy GBA and Gunstar Super Heroes
- Both Astro Boy GBA and GSH are developed by Treasure and published by Sega
- Sega currently has no known internal shooter team
- Treasure has worked on another revival of a famous horizontal shooter series: Gradius V
- Draw your own conclusions and no refund for disappointment

http://www.ga-forum.com/showthread.php?t=326316

[Recap]

Perhaps these guys know what's up?

Nobody knows for now, but Zolger is indeed the director. The Treasure theory is the last one I'd buy, though. I'm still to see a Treasure game with Z-grade doujin-quality visuals.

[icycalm]

Yeah. Which reminds me of that 360 shooter they were supposed to be making. We should have heard something about that by now if it was still on track...

[zinger]

From the "Saving Shooters" feature (Edge #195) -- Tez Okano on keeping TF's "soul" intact, as well as some other bright ideas:

Well I wanted a different approach from IREM’s R-Type Final, where they decided to change everything. I preferred to go back to the roots. I want to deliver a Thunder Force for players who enjoyed it on the Megadrive: I think that 3D altered, if not killed entirely, the fun of an arcade shooter by including these dynamic camera angles. And more and more shooters based themselves on character designs. What I wanted was that basic arcade shooting experience. So I’m making one! Most of the shooters you find today on the Xbox 360 or the PS2 are titles you don’t really feel excited to play at home. You really need to concentrate and focus on your play in order to get into the action. Back in the time I was enjoying arcade shooters at home, I would feel very excited to buy it: then, when I get back home after work, I would open a can of beer and it would be instantly fun. Today, the games are too complicated, they need too much focus. When making Thunder Force VI I wanted that excitement back: no need to wonder about anything, just shoot, defeat the enemy waves and bosses and get the reward of achieving victory! No weird character designs or sophisticated systems. Just pure shooting fun.

However, I do believe only the Japanese can deliver a great arcade shooter. Take the way we used to only show planes flat from the side in our shooting games, no changes in perspective or showing the other wing. It might seem weird now but I think that’s a visual idea that only Japanese developers could have come up with. From an overseas perspective it may have looked like nonsense but for us, it looks cool!

Not very promising.

[icycalm]

I wouldn't mind this "going back to the roots" mentality, if he really WAS going back to the roots in all respects -- including graphics.

And, by the way, going back to the roots is what the word 'retro' should be used for. From what I hear, then, TFVI should be considered as a true retro game.

And the link to the interview:

http://www.edge-online.com/magazine/saving-shooters

The title, by the way, is pure sacrilege. Where the fuck was this guy when Cave and G.rev were saving the genre throughout the first part of this decade?

And as for this:

Did you consider an arcade version?

That was something I wanted to do, but in our arcade board line-up you have the Lindbergh or the Naomi, nothing in between. The Lindbergh is too expensive, and the Naomi doesn’t have sufficient power I’m afraid. If we’d had something in the middle, I would of course have insisted on an arcade version!

LOLOLOL! As if the Naomi couldn't handle this piece of crap! Who the fuck does he think he's talking to? Oh, right, Edge...

[icycalm]

Here's a review by Icarus, who can usually be trusted to know what he's talking about:

poor stage design; short, unimaginative stages; easy bosses; substandard visual design (for the hardware); music that aside from the intro is unmemorable; poor weapon balance; lack of gameplay and scoring depth that relies on unlockables for longevity and interest, and other things.

Sort of like taking the worst elements from previous TF games and rolling them into one, and adding a few extra bits of junk along the way. The TF fanservice is nice, but there's no game to back it up.

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... 342#420342

[JoshF]

Here's a video of BGR (of Gradius V fame) playing the first stage on Maniac.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d59Wk9cNbT8

Looks like it has that same stupid multiplier from TFV where you get more points for speed kills, a.k.a. not dodging bullets.

[zinger]

Rob gets his reward: http://youtube.com/watch?v=73TFCasceGk

[JoshF]

Interesting note, my friend told me the "arabic" text during the boss introductions is just scribble.

[rob dot]

Rob gets his reward:

It's like this game was the director's attempt at recreating Thunder Force III and V from a distant memory. Someone should've just bought those two games for him and given this project to Treasure.

[rob dot]

I don't think this is the same rob. The one I know wouldn't compliment Treasure.

http://forum.insomnia.ac/viewtopic.php?p=6652#6652

Haha, I'll respond to this over here since I haven't complained nearly enough. Treasure worked well within the framework of Gradius. They improved just enough and kept just enough the same. Sega improved nothing. All interest I had in this game vanished after a few days. It's a taxidermist's Thunder Force sequel. The disappointment is not just that the game is mediocre, but that this could've been handled by Treasure if not for the director's mistaken idea that they made Gradius V a Treasure game. People, who I am sure would've been happy to scrutinize GV for their involvement, loved it.

Barbaric Berserk Beast!